


The Best Nap Ever

by somethingaboutamoose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, But also, Canon Universe, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, M/M, New Planets, Pining Lance (Voltron), Secret Santa, it's the perfect balance, sleeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 04:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13139049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingaboutamoose/pseuds/somethingaboutamoose
Summary: Fighting a war is exhausting. Trying to save four planets at once is exhausting. Agreeing to cuddle with a boy who you might have a crush on is exhausting.Lance is exhausted, but how are you supposed to rest when you don't have any time?





	The Best Nap Ever

**Author's Note:**

> this is a Secret Santa gift to @painttheworldmad on tumblr! Check out their blog!!

 

Bad weeks happened. Sometimes life hits you day after day of bad, no good, rotten, awful situations. You push and pull through every hour. You don’t realize how long and difficult the day was until you lay in your bed at night and stare at the ceiling and think:

“Damn.” Lance muttered, spread out in his bed. It was late into the night-or whatever counted as night on the floating giant castle ship he called home. 

At the thought of, he pressed the palm of his hands against his eyes. Over the last few days, everything had begun tumbling down, in Lance and all around him.

It seemed like it was solo mission after solo mission for Lance. Everyone was in a mad rush to get supplies for a cluster of planets that were dying. It was a section of four sister planets, all in line, and had experienced trouble when the Galra raided them for their riches. Now Pidge, Hunk, and Matt were stationed on the largest planet setting them up with tech to help their day to day and to keep in contact with one another. Keith and the Blades worked to set up a defense for the next time they were hit. Allura, Shiro, Coran doubled helping the leaders ban together and call in the outside forces to help deliver much needed supplies. 

And who was the one to go get those supplies? Well, it had to be someone with a big lion, of course. Had to be someone that was friendly with people. Oh, and of course, had to be someone completely separable and unuseful enough to be on the grounds. 

Tada, it was Lance. 

So while everyone else got to chat and relax, Lance was going back and forth across galaxies to their allies, lugging large amounts of food, clothing, and other resources onto Blue, then flying all the way back to unload it. Over and over. Hours on end.

Not to mention that he got attacked by random Galra fleets TWICE and had to fend for himself until the rest of the team arrived. 

All of that was normal day-to-day paladin stress though. The worst part about it was that he kept  _ messing up _ . Whether it was taking too long, grabbing the wrong supplies, or, like today, unloading the supplies at the wrong planet and having to pack it all up and do it all over again, wasting ‘precious time’.

“We do not have that much time left, Lance. We can’t afford mistakes like this.” Shiro mentioned at dinner towards the end of the day. 

“Hey, all four of those planets look really similar! How am I supposed to know which one is which.”

Pidge rolled her eyes, “They are all different colors.”

“Well...it’s been a long week!” Lance shouted. 

“Everyone is having a hard time, Lance.” Allura glared, “You know the direness of the situation. If one of the planets is off balance, the other three with perish as well, and with Planet K3 in ruins…”

“I get that, and I’m doing my best here! I’m not a trucker, I’m not fit to drive back and forth all day and night!”

“A what?” Allura asked. 

“We all have to do what we can.” Shiro said, “As long as we work together, and work hard, we can save these people. Now, go get some rest while you can. You have an early day tomorrow.”

Lance gestured to his watch, “I only have three hours to sleep, you know. I need my beauty rest.”

“I know it’s hard, but it’s only for a bit longer. We are making real progress on K3.” Shiro assured. 

As Lance walked out, he mumbled, “I wouldn’t know.”

So staring up at his ceiling, Lance breathed deeply. Back home, he knew stress, sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Although each time, he could either cuddle up with something soft, go take a walk outside, or distract himself on the internet. In the middle of space where a war waged around you, none of those things were available. 

A quick rapping appeared at his door. He didn’t bother to ask who it was before calling to let them in. 

Lance looked up to see Keith taking a hesitant step into his room. 

Quickly, Lance propped himself onto his elbows, “Hey.”

“Hey.”

Silence hushed until Lance said, “Whatcha doing?”

Lance didn’t know Keith could look so bashful as the other boy looked to the ground and said, “Uh, remember when we had that sleepover in the lounge area a few weeks back?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you...remember how we woke up?”

Oh. Yeah, Lance definitely did. He remembered how he awoke to Keith nestled into his chest, his arms wrapped around his waist. He remembered how Keith’s hair tickled underneath his chin and remembered the warmth of the other body beside his. 

He also remembered the panic of trying to pry them away from each other before everyone else noticed. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Lance coughed, “Uh, I remember.”

“Oh.” Furrowing his brow and biting his lip, Keith said, “I was wondering if you wanted to…”

“Cuddle?” Lance raised his eyebrow.

“I mean, if you don’t want to it’s totally fine,” Keith panicked, “I just heard Shiro and Allura getting at you, and we don’t have that much time to sleep so it wouldn’t be-”

“Sure.” Lance said.

“Sure?”

“It’s been cold around here lately, and we don’t get to hang out as much, so yeah.” Lance explained to himself and Keith, “Sure.”

“Okay,” Keith shuffled across the floor to Lance’s bunk. 

Lance lifted up the blanket and allowed Keith to make his way underneath the covers. 

At first, they simply faced each other and stared. 

Things between the two were different lately. Now that they didn’t see each other as often, they didn’t fight as much when Keith did come back. There wasn’t any time for petty bickering or insulting. They...missed each other too much for that. 

Now when they had the luxury to hang out, they used their time wisely. They told each other stories of their time apart, played video games if they could sneak away from the group, and simply relaxed. The two didn’t realize how much they cherished time with each other until it was gone. 

To anyone, it was obvious that Keith and Lance’s relationship had shifted towards the better. Although, to them, it had gradually changed to something more...powerful. 

They couldn’t place what made it so strong, so different than what they had with everyone else, but there weren’t any teen magazines to figure out your feelings in space. So they let it be what it was. 

Lance arched an eyebrow as he slowly brought his arm around Keith’s waist, posing a question. In answer, Keith scooted himself closer to Lance, tucking his head into the paladin’s chest. 

Lance allowed his other hand to run through Keith’s hair, in a form of unforgiving intimacy. He blamed it on their human need for contact, on the cold, or on the nightmares. Not once did he blame it on weakness. As the two of them held each other, there was no weakness. 

 

“Lance...wake up,” 

Warm hands slapped his cheeks, getting him to open his eyes. He blinked and groaned, stretching his arms over his head. He yawned loudly. 

“Your breath stinks.” Keith said, cheek resting on his arms, which sat upon Lance’s chest. 

“Why’d you wake me up?” Lance stared at the boy on top of him, “What time is it?”

“Early.” Keith said, “We have to get up.”

Lance groaned, and pulled Keith closer to him. 

Keith instantly nuzzled into Lance’s chest before they both paused. 

Lance let go while Keith sat up so quick his vision wobbled. 

“I’ll just-uh-”

“Yeah you should probably-” 

They stared at each other for a moment before Lance sat up. He fiddled with the blanket and right before Keith went to get up, Lance blurted, “It doesn’t have to...mean anything. You know.”

“What?”

“The cuddling. I don’t know-it’s comforting to me. But it doesn’t have to mean anything. If you don’t want it too. I know we haven’t talked about. And we don’t have to. If you want it to just be casual, bro-cuddling, that’s fine. With me, that is.”

Keith raised his eyebrow, “I...I thought that was what it was? You hug Hunk all the time, and so I just assumed. Wait, has it-has this been something more for you?”

Lance yelped, “Well! I gotta go to the bathroom, and you better not leave those Blades of Marmora guys waiting. Forget everything I’ve said, I’m just. Exhausted, you know? Haha. Cool, see you later.”

Lance proceeded to lock himself into the bathroom until he heard a faint knocking and a mumble, “Bye, Lance.”

Then, he put his face in his hands, and groaned. Another long day, followed by an awful morning. 

“There was supposed to be 155 rods of priopritonin. These boxes only have 152.” One of the council members of planet K1 explain after going through the load of boxes. 

The people of K1 similar to the rest of their sister planets. All of them were incredibly tall creatures, thin, and looked almost like centaurs if the horse half had six legs and a tiny, chicken-like tail. And if the human part had four arms and a face similar to the aliens you see presented on Earth. Large, black eyes, no nose and tiny mouth. 

In fact, with all those limbs, Lance wondered why they didn’t help him, a sad, four legged human, move these boxes. 

Lance suppressed a yawn, leaning against Blue’s leg, “I’m sorry, that’s just what the Balmera up north gave me. They gave you a few boxes of rock candy for your trouble, though.”

The member glared, which was incredibly impressive with their giant eyes, “Rock candy will not save my planet.”

Lance could only turn away and mutter, “You never know.” 

With the help of only a few people, he unloaded the rest of the supplies. Afterwards, he stretched and got back in his pilot’s seat. He had about one varga to spare until he was to report on K3. Apparently, after today, they were done with their assistance with the planets. They were well enough to stand on their own, and the people were going to throw them a small party for their efforts. If there was anything Lance loved about being a paladin, was the praise. 

That’s if he was awake enough to take his place as life of the party. 

So, with the equivalent of an earth hour to spare, Lance tucked himself into his pilot’s chair. A quick little nap couldn’t hurt anyone. 

Lance asked Blue too dim the lights as he gathered a blanket from the crate off to the side. He curled in on himself and drifted off easily. 

 

“LANCE! Lance, come in!” 

Lance woke up in a shock and proceeded to fall off his chair, whacking his head on the control board.

“Owww…” Lance moaned before he managed to pick himself up to answer the call. 

“Hello?” He asked, seeing the rest of the paladins on the display screens.

“Where  _ are  _ you?” Pidge asked, scowling.

Lance blinked, “Uh, I’m on K1?”

“No, you’re not, we’ve been looking everywhere for you, dude. You aren’t on any of the planets. You look like a mess, though.” 

“I just woke up from a-” Lance widened his eyes, “What time is it?”

“You are late.” Allura called in. Only then Lance noticed that everyone was in their sophisticated dress-wear. Which were basically a fancier version of their paladin armor and included a colored cape on one side of their outfit. 

“I’m so sorry, I just-I fell asleep, I’ll be there in a-” Lance got into his seat. When the screen in front of him came into view, he looked out. He was...already flying?

“Uh, guys?” Lance questioned, “I don’t know where I am.”

“What do you mean? Send me your coordinates,” Allura demanded, which Lance promptly did

The group waited for Allura’s response, but it came slow and confused, “You are in...a galaxy I’ve never heard of.”

“He’s in a different  _ galaxy _ ?” Pidge asked, “How did you get there? It’s only been an hour since we’ve last touched bases.”

“Look,” Lance said, “I have no idea.”

“Let me ask Coran and the Marmore if they know of this galaxy.” Allura commented.

Lance look to Blue, silently asking her what she got him into. 

Soon, Kolivan came into focus, “Blue paladin, how did you reach your current location?”

“I don’t know! I was just taking a quick nap in Blue and then I woke up all the way out here! And Blue isn’t telling me squat so can anyone let me where I am?”

“According to the information database that is kept at the Marmora base, you are in the Brand Galaxy, near a black hole.” Kolivan explained. 

“What?!” Lance shouted.

“Cool!” Hunk and Pidge yelled. 

“No, NOT COOL!” Lance combatted, “Am I gonna die? Did Blue take me out here to kill me?! Blue is a traitor to the Galra!”

Blue did not appreciate that sentiment and did a flip which threw Lance out of his seat.

“I don’t believe so, Blue Paladin, you spoke that you recently have awoken from sleep?” Kolivan asked. 

“Yeah, right when they started screaming at me.” Lance said, climbing back to his seat while rubbing his head.

“Do you feel well-rested?”

Lance nodded, “Yeah, actually, super well-rested. I feel a whole lot better. Probably one of the best power naps I’ve had in awhile.”

.  “That would make sense,” Kolivan nodded, “I suppose this has to do with your bond with your lion. As if your lion in looking out for your health in the best way it can. You’ve been gone for twelve hours.”

“Wait, what-”

“OH!” Pidge hollered, “Oh my GOD that’s so cool!”

Hunk caught on too, “Oh, oh! I can’t believe I didn’t catch it before, gosh, I love space!”

“How can I-what is-” Lance sputtered.

Pidge leaned forward, her face almost hitting her camera, “Lance! So you are next to a black hole, right? So, like, Blue must’ve landed you at a planet at the right about of distance in order to reach that amount of time dilation. It must be a really small black hole to if it only put you forward half a day, in fact, you actually might be quite a bit away-”

Hunk chimed in, “Basically, being next a black hole warps time. So one hour for us is twelve hours where you are.”

Shiro chuckled, “You are in the future.”

“Whoooa.” Lance said.

Allura shook her head, “Although I’m glad your bond with the Blue Lion is strong, you simply must return. We are awaiting you. And where’s Keith? He said he would be here”

“He’s with me.” Kolivan announced, “He is dressed and prepared to go.”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Pidge asked, “These people are giving us looks.”

“He will be.” Kolivan smirked as he looked to the side, “He explained to me that he was...waiting for someone.”

Allura rubbed her head, “Just...everyone be here as soon as possible.”

“Wait, aren’t I gonna miss the whole thing?” Lance said. “Because I’m 12 hours in the future?”

Allura groaned, “Ugh. Keith, get over here.”

“How you getting this message then?” Pidge pondered. 

“Shouldn’t he come back during this time? Since time is moving slower there.” Hunk asked.

“I’m starting my watch for the exact time Lance arrives. This isn’t science you get everyday. Lance, can you track your time on the way back? And distance.”

Lance sighed, and started up his tracker, “Nerds.”

 

Lance ended going through a wormhole created by Blue herself, and making it in time for the party. In fact, he got there only a few minutes after they finished the conversation. 

“Ha! I beat Keith!” Lance said, quickly dawning his cape. 

“That. Was. So. Cool!” Pidge jumped excitedly. “After all this time in space, I can’t believe I didn’t think about the possibility of time dilation!”

“You only like me when I’m forcibly submitted to be a science experiment.” Lance huffed.

Pidge shrugged, “Yeah, pretty much.”

“I still wonder why Blue took you there,” Allura hummed, “It’s not like a lion to do things without the paladin’s knowing.”

Shiro scoffed and mumbled, “Obviously you’ve never flown Black,” and headed off to talk to the leaders.

After Hunk and Pidge realized Lance had no idea how to answer their science questions, they left to talk to each other. 

Lance realized he was hungry, and technically, hadn’t eaten for the last twelve hours, so he helped himself to the buffet line. 

“Did you get a good rest?” Keith asked, appearing on the other side of the table, gathering his own plate.

Lance raised his eyebrow, “I did, actually.”

Keith nodded, “Want to sit down somewhere?” 

“Apparently us paladins get a fancy table to ourselves” Lance grinned. 

Keith looked down at his outfit, he had the formal paladin wear, the over-dramatic armor and the red cape, but he also was given a purple circlet to represent Marmora. It was golden with a purple diamond-shaped stone one it’s center. With the small crown resting on his forehead, he looked like some kind of prince.

Lance thought it was very regal look unnecessarily good on him. 

As they were walking to their seats, Lance asked, “So did you tell Blue to take me to the Brand galaxy?”

Keith bit his lip, “I didn’t  _ tell  _ her to do anything. But I gave Red the information and Red...passed it along.”

“Why?” Lance asked, setting his plate down but demanding answers before he sat.

Keith shrugged, “You looked tired and with everything you said I thought that maybe me sleeping in your room was affecting your sleeping-”

“Whoa, whoa,” Lance put his hands up, “If anything, you being there, it actually helps me sleep. It’s the running back and forth and lugging crates around that’s been exhausting. And even though you indirectly sent me to a different galaxy that was...really nice. In a way.”

Keith shrugged, “It was nothing.”

“Oh, it was  _ something _ .” Lance laughed. He shook his head and went to sit. 

Quickly, reaching under the table, Keith slid into his seat and grabbed Lance’s wrist, “What you said before...I’m okay with that. With it meaning something.” 

“What, uh, kind of something?” Lance asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

“We can figure that out more eventually, but a...more than friend? Kind of something?” Keith gave Lance the cutest, most sheepish smile that he’s ever seen.

“Is this your way of asking me out?” Lance smirked.

Keith pulled away to cross his arms, “I’m trying here,” 

Lance laughed and grabbed for Keith’s arm, pulling him away enough so that he could hold his hand.

Keith took his turn to smirk, “Is this your way of saying yes?”

Lance nodded, and Keith tightened his grip on his hand.

Suddenly, Pidge and Hunk came to the table. If they noticed the other two paladins holding hands, they didn’t care because they began ranting about how they figured out the time dilation. Shiro and Allura came soon enough, and their only response was a small smile and a wink. 

Keith and Lance continued to hold hands for the rest of the night, and after staying up far, far too late, they went back to their rooms. There was no question on where they would be sleeping as the two boys curled up together.

Not even a 12-hour time warped nap could compare to how well Lance slept that night. 


End file.
